When the Department of Homeland Security was established I, jokingly, stated that Russians now have more freedom than Americans.
And that was before the first baker was sued out of business for not baking a cake for a homo “wedding”.
I’m pretty sure they look at us with a healthy dose of suspicion.
Can’t undo 50-60 years of propaganda overnight.
Some cold war holdovers like McCain will never change because Russia has been a convenient boogey man since 1946.
I prefer to use the Reagan approach: trust but verify.
I'm assuming you haven't been there. I've spent a lot of time in Russia and that couldn't be further from the truth. If you're a Russian citizen, you need an internal passport to move around your own country. You need permission from the government to live in Moscow. Other cities are effectively closed. I've seen common people beaten by armed government affiliated gangs in small towns for minor offenses. I don't know what TSA has put you through, but I assure you Russia is still a hell of a lot less free.